The Ocean at Home is a nice overview of how aquariums came to be and the history of aquariums-as-hobby or scientific endeavour. It is a brief book with plenty of illustrations, with a focus on the 19th century, when the fad for home aquariums arose and scientists began to make use of new inventions to study the sea.

I learned quite a bit about the topic, but it turns out I wasn't really interested in the history part. While it was interesting to look at aquariums and science-doing as a hobby of middle and upper class Victorian women primarily (because it was seen as ladylike, as it didn't require exertion and such), I found myself wanting to read more about the architecture of large aquariums, which wasn't nearly in depth enough to satisfy my curiosity, and the ethics of these oceanariums and depletion of the seas, which Brunner only briefly discussed in the last chapter.

It's a brief history, to be sure, and a good introduction should someone like to try it out. The bibliography in back can lead the curious reader to more in depth studies, too. ( )

A well researched introduction to the topic, with scholarly input and popularising results. ( )